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Monday, April 30, 2007

Spinetingler Magazine Closing to Submissions

The reason we're doing this is that we have a high submission volume and this has created a backlog. We want to take our time properly reviewing the stories that come in, instead of rushing through the material and making snap decisions.

~ any story that does not have a release form included will be automatically rejectedThere is no argument on this point. I don't care if Ghandi penned the work himself and emailed it from the afterlife. No release=not considered for publication.

~ stories that aren't correctly formatted might be considered, but in a tough decision between two comparable decisions a story that's formatted correctly will have an advantage

Why? I have spent hours on issues where I've had to take hard returns out line after line after line, as well as make other formatting changes. The simple reality is the higher the submission volume, the more time processing stories and then editing stories, means less time for formatting. Even competitions where your work will be read, not published have submission guidelines and will disqualify paying entrants who don't follow them. The ability to follow guidelines can sometimes be an indication of how you'll work with an editor, or not work, as the case may be, so my advice for any publication is that if they have submission guidelines you follow them to the very best of your ability. And if they don't, then they can't complain.

Just a few points for those thinking of submitting, or perhaps wondering why a submission may have been rejected. Any submissions received after tonight will not be read.

* The closure may be extended to the end of July, depending on assessment of current material.